Category: Events

Fashion for Life 2014 underway

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fashion for Life 2014: Voyage
Fashion for Life 2014: Voyage

Fashion for Life 2014 opened its doors in Second Life on Saturday June 7th, and will run through until midnight SLT on Friday June 20th.

Supporting Relay for Life of SL (as it always does), Fashion For Life is spread across ten themed regions, each one hosting stores and shops offering the best and latest of their fashions and accessories. In a major change to previous FFL events, every item for sale is a donation item; designers can choose whether 15, 25, 50, 75 or 100% of the proceeds of a sale go to RFL of SL.

Fashion for Life 2014: Trek
Fashion for Life 2014: Trek

The theme of this year’s event is Wanderlust, a reflection of RFL of SL’s central theme of A Journey of Promise. In keeping with this, each of the FFL regions is focused on a means of transportation – be it by air, land or water. The ten regions, their themes, their designers and sponsors are:

  • FFL Amble: automobiles; designed by Bianca Bender; sponsored by MoonDance and PurpleMoon
  • FFL Excursion: water transportation on rivers; designed by Barnesworth Anubis; sponsored by Tres Beau and Lapointe & Bastchild
  • FFL Journey: Steampunk Ground transport; designed by TotalLunar Eclipse; sponsored by EMO-tions and Heydra
  • FFL Meander: ocean-going transport; designed by Grace Loudon; sponsored by Pure Poison and Body Canvas
  • FFL Parade: Pedal Power; designed by Pluto Fairey; sponsored by KL Couture and LeeZu
  • FFL Perambulate: Foot-driven, skateboards or skates; designed by Eclair Martinek; sponsored by BSD Design Studio and Legal Insanity
  • FFL Promenade: Space; designed by Rathmeous Dagger; sponsored by FBD Fashion and ZOZ
  • FFL Trek: mechanised flight; designed by Troy Vogel; sponsored by Essenz and Azul
  • FFL Voyage: 2 & 3 wheelers; designed by Jara Lowell; sponsored by Vintage Jewels and Mon Cheri
  • FFL Wander: non-mechanised flight; designed by Grace Loudon and Rathmeous Dagger; sponsored by Zanze and Miamai
Fashion for Life 2014: Meander
Fashion for Life 2014: Meander

For those not so into shopping and fashion (and for those who are!), FFL is running The Passport Game, a HUD-based game which builds on the theme of the event and the themes of the FFL regions.

To play, simply pick-up a passport HUD at any of the FFL region arrival points, wear it, and then visit the Gacha Station in each of the 10 regions and purchase the special souvenirs made by each of region builders – the proceeds go directly to RFL of SL. When you wear a souvenir, your passport will be stamped. When you have all 10 stamps, go to the redemption centre on any region and claim a prize donated by a number of the designers participating in FFL 2014.

Fashion for Life 2014: Perambulate
Fashion for Life 2014: Perambulate

As well as the stores in each region, FFL will feature a range of events and activities, these will include runway shows, a lookbook organized and sponsored by Best of SL under the direction of Reign Congrejo and live music and DJ events organised and sponsored by Zenzibar’s Zzoie Zee. Keep an eye on the FFL 2014 blog for details on events.

So why not broaden your travel horizons, and book a break in the FFL regions?

Related Links

Help Virtual Ability in a healthcare study

Posted on by Inara Pey

Virtual AbilityVirtual Ability are seeking volunteers (primarily in the United States) to help with a nationwide healthcare research project.

The research, which is being carried out in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, is intended to assess the level of access to quality healthcare people with disabilities have in the US, with a focus on determining if people with disabilities who get better healthcare stay healthier and are able to live independently longer than do those who get lower quality healthcare. A unique part of the study is that not only are people with disabilities providing data for the researchers, but some people with disabilities will be involved as members of the research team.

The study will run for three years, and will involve research into quantitative and qualitative care:

  • The quantitative portion of the study will yield findings about how access and healthcare quality, as perceived by thousands of Medicare beneficiaries of all ages, impacts the progression of their disabilities and their survival
  • The qualitative portion of the study will be conducted in an urban setting in Wisconsin and also in Second Life. It will use Focus Groups that provide a “voice” to the general public with the aim of revealing relationships among quality of health care and access to high quality healthcare for persons at varying levels of impaired function and disability.

Second Life users, disabled and able-bodied, are being invited to be a part of a Focus Group within the qualitative portion of the study. In all, there will be three types of Focus Group: people with a disability or their proxies; people without disabilities; and clinicians; volunteers are being sought to participate in all three.

Those joining a Focus Group will be asked to participate in a variety of activities, some of which will be limited to just a few people at a time while others will be open to the general public. A commitment to the full three years of the study is not required; anyone wishing to withdraw from the study can do so any time in the process.

Volunteer Involvement

Second Life users wishing to volunteer to be a part of a Focus Group must:

  • Be a US citizen (non-citizens can participate in other ways)
  • Be a person 21 years of age or older
  • Have at least 3 months of experience in Second Life and be able to communicate in text (with ADA accommodations).

In addition, the following criteria also apply to volunteers:

  • Those wishing to participate as a person with a disability or their proxy must:
    • Be a person with one or more disabilities (physical, mental, emotional, or sensory), OR
    • Be a provider of personal care to a person with a disability and serve as their proxy  (e.g. sharing their likely opinions or experiences because they are unable to do so directly)
  • Non-disabled people wishing to apply must not have a disability at this time AND must be a person who is not caring for a person with a disability at this time
  • Clinicians wishing to be a part of the study must be a practicing health professional AND have had clinical experience in the provision of care to people with and without disabilities

If you are willing to participate as a research subject, please send an IM to Sister Abeyante (or email her at sister@virtualability.org),  indicating whether you wish to participate as a person with a disability, a non-disabled person or a clinician.

You will receive a consent form (note card) by return with further information on the study.

  • Please read through the note card, and feel free to forward any questions you have about the research (and / or the research process, and / or your involvement in the study) using the contact information provided on the note card
  • When you are satisfied you are willing to participate in the research, please follow the directions on the note card (typing your name and renaming the note card) and return a copy to Sister Abeyante in-world.

Within a week of returning your consent form, you will receive a unique URL that will allow you to take a demographic survey. This survey will ask you questions about yourself, your health, and your life circumstance. Your responses to this survey will be kept strictly confidential by the University of Pennsylvania.

Within a few months of taking the survey, people will be randomly selected to participate in a private Focus Group meetings which will be held in Second Life, and will discuss a variety of questions of interest to the researchers, including interpretation of statistical results. There will be separate Focus Group meetings for people with disabilities (or their proxies), people without disabilities, and clinicians.

As the study will continue for two additional years, those chosen to join future Focus Groups will be asked to re-sign a consent form ahead of their participation to confirm their continued interest in the research.

The Research Pavilion at Healthinfo Island will host public elements of the study
The Research Pavilion on Healthinfo Island will host public elements of the study

Public Involvement

Anybody interested in the topic of healthcare quality, but who does not qualify or does not want to be a research subject can participate in the public portion of the study by:

If you have further questions concerning this study, please contact: Sister Abeyante in Second Life, or email sister@virtualability.org.

For and on behalf of Virtual Ability Inc.

Of missing soldiers, warrior cats and romantic mice

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday June 1st

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.

This week: The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

The year is 1903, and the Second Boer War has not long ended. Holmes is visited by a veteran of that campaign one James M. Dodd, who has a strange tale to tell while seeking Holmes’ assistance in locating a colleague and friend.

During the war, Dodd served in the Imperial Yeomanry, alongside one Godfrey Emsworth.  Dodd lost contact with Emsworth not long after the latter was wounded. Now six months later, which trying to locate his friend, he has encountered a strange situation which has aroused his suspicions.

Upon contacting Emsworth’s family, Dodd was told Emsworth had departed on a voyage around the world. On visiting the family, he is again met with the same story, and Emsworth’s father intimates Dodd is lying about ever having known his son. Relating the rest of his story, Dodd reveals several more events that lead him to believe that all is not well with his friend and former colleague. He’s then rather surprised when having related events, Holmes considers that, but for one clue, the answer to the entire matter is elementary, and agrees to accompany Dodd to visit the Emsworth family to confirm his belief.

Find out how Holmes so quickly deduced what is going on, and what has happened to Godfrey Emsworth by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

Monday June 2nd, 19:00: Space Wars: The Man Who Would Be Kzin

Gyro Muggins launches a new series of sci-fi tales as he dips into Larry Niven’s Known Space universe and pulls out a story from the Man-Kzin Wars.

The Kzinti, are a warlike race Niven first introduced to the world in his 1966 story The Warriors. They permeated many of his stories set in the Known Space series, and well as appearing in his Nebula and Hugo award-winning Ringworld. In his stories, Niven references a series of conflicts between Kzinti and humans, but did not write about the wars himself. Such was the demand for more information on the wars, however, he allowed the Man-Kzin wars to become a shared universe series, with the majority of the stories written by other science-fiction authors such as Poul Anderson, Dean Ing, Jerry Pournelle, S.M. Stirling, Greg Bear and others.

The Man Who Would Be Kzin, written in 1991 by Greg Bear and S.M Stirling, appears in the Man-Kzin Wars IV, and The Best of All Possible Wars. It poses the interesting question: how exactly does a human spy infiltrate a civilisation of 8-foot tall anthropomorphic tiger-like cats?

Tuesday June 3rd: The library is dark

Check the Seanchai library blog for any late-breaking news of an event.

Wednesday June 4th, 19:00: Tales of Despereaux

Following-on from Flora and Ulysses, Caledonia Skytower reads from Kate DiCamillo’s first novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award.

The Tales of Despereaux is a story of four parts, each part told from the perspective of a different character. Despereaux Tilling, is a mouse, and the hero of the piece. Born a runt with big ears and eyes, he is an incurable romantic, given to reading tales about knights and princesses. Chiaroscuro is a dungeon rat with an obsession with light, bright things. Miggery Sow is a simply serving girl with an impossible dream.

Together, these three become bound in a tale of dungeons, betrayal, kidnap, redemption and a princess named Pea, as well as a host of other memorable characters.

Thursday June 5th

19:00: Ladon

Shandon Loring delves into Greek Mythology once more, focusing on the many-headed dragon which guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, and tormented the Titan Atlas as he held the heavens on his shoulders.

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

Creating the VR metaverse

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Tuesday May 20th, at the SVVR conference in Mountain View, California, Second Life’s own Draxtor Despres (Bernard Drax, RL) hosted a panel discussion / Q&A session entitled Creating the VR Metaverse.

The panel comprised:

During the hour of the event, the panel discussed many aspects of the future of the metaverse, including identity and privacy, governance, whether the metaverse wile be a single entity or many, content portability, the user interface, and more, before answering questions from both Second Life and the real world audience.

The discussion was recorded and posted to You Tube, courtesy of Brian Hart. The following transcript is taken from the point at which the discussion started, after each of the participants  had been given the opportunity to introduce themselves.

L-to-R: Stafano Corazza, Josh Carpenter, Ebbe Altberg, Philip Rosedale, Tony Parisi (image: Ben Lang, The Road to VR)

As usual, please note that:

  • This is not a word-for-word transcript of the entire meeting. While all quotes given are as they are spoken in the audio, to assist in readability and maintain the flow of conversation, not all asides, jokes, interruptions, etc., have been included in the text presented here
  • If there are any sizeable gaps in comments from a speaker which resulted from asides, repetition, questions to others etc,, these are indicated by the use of “…”
  • Sound quality on the video is not ideal. There may therefore be the occasional misquote, although every effort has been taken to avoid this.

07:16 Bernard Drax (BD): Tony, you’ve been around for some time; what kind of deja-vu feeling is this, and what do you want to scream at these 23-year olds that are making the goggles?

07:34 Tony Parisi (TP): For those of you who don’t know my background, 23 years and three months ago I created this technology called VRML, virtual reality modelling language … I don’t teach VRML any more, but I’m still very passionate about it is a product for connected devices and connected experiences., which is why we got together to build that technology two decades ago.

the principle behind was, just like the other media that were getting sucked into the world-wide web, 3D would be a media type as part of that as well; you could use it to build visualisation, you could use it to create virtual worlds, you could use it to heal the sick, feed the poor, and a whole bunch of really cool things.

Back then I was your age, 23-year-olds or a little bit older. We were very excited, there’s a lot of deja-vu for me in this conference, because this conference has a lot of the energy of the first couple of VRML get-togethers. We didn’t know what wasn’t possible; we had all kinds of high hopes and dreams and of course, years into it, reality crashed into us. we learned a lot, but it was definitely a bit early to try to deploy virtual experiences back then.

The one take-away I will offer to everyone here, and its been a continued theme in my work… I’ve heard a lot about Unity, I’ve heard a lot about game engines, I’ve seen insane experiences; Unreal (Engine), those Kite guys, I can’t think of their name, mind-blowing, incredible production value … but don’t ignore the web.

Continue reading “Creating the VR metaverse” →

SL11B Community Celebration: exhibitors, get ready

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Thursday May 29th, the SL11B Community Celebration team announced that all exhibitor application notifications have been sent out.

If you applied for exhibition space at SL11BCC, but haven’t seen / believe you may not have received the e-mail, please:

  • Check the same account as the e-mail you provided in your application
  • Check your spam folder.

The e-mail will have come from “The SLB Team”, and should be easy to spot.

If you did not receive a positive notification, please note that your name has been added to a list. Should any parcels remain unclaimed after June 2nd, 2014, they will be offered to those on the list.

If you’re received a positive notification, please read the e-mail carefully, as it contains a lot of valuable information, which should answer most questions prior to the gates opening and exhibitors being allowed into the SL11BCC regions.

The DJ Stage being built by Kazuhiro Aridian (by Vivena Resident, via the SL11B website)

The regions will be opening to exhibitors at midday SLT on Friday May 30th.

Keep in mind that there is a set procedure for gaining access to your exhibit parcel, details of which are in your acceptance e-mail. However, key points to note are:

  • You should be a member of The SLB Community group.
  • After the regions have opened to exhibitors, send a request to the group asking for an Exhibitor Assistant (EA).
  • When an EA is available, they will IM you  – please be patient; this may take a little while, as EAs deal with the initial rush
  • As a part of your conversation with the EA, they will provide you with:
    • An invitation to join the SLB Exhibit and Performance group (so you will need two free groups slots – one for this and one for The SLB Community group, if you have not already joined that)
    • A teleport invitation to your parcel
  • Make the SLB Exhibit and Performance group your active group (this should be your active group throughout all your building on the parcel) and claim your parcel by rezzing a prim on it
  • Prior to building your exhibit, take a moment to re-acquaint yourself with the SLB Exhibitor Policies.

Given that there will be an inevitable rush to access the regions, why not leave it a while avoid the crowd? As long as you have claimed your parcel by Monday June 2nd, 2014, you’ll be fine.

Saffia Widdershins and Marianne McCann have produced a short video going over these points and a few more as well.

Once again, the important dates of note for SL11BCC are:

  • Friday, May 30th, noon: Sims open for builders
  • Wednesday, June 15th, noon: Sims close to builders
  • Saturday, June 21st, noon: Press day
  • Sunday, June 22nd, noon: SL11BCC opens!
  • Monday, June 23rd: Second Life’s Official 11th Birthday!
  • Sunday, June 29th: final day of celebrations
  • Monday, June 30th to Saturday, July 5th: Sims will remain open for viewing. No performances.
  • Sunday, July 6th to Tuesday, July 8th: Breakdown
  • Wednesday, July 9th: Sims go offline

Related Links

The danger of obsession, the path of reincarnation and tales to tell

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday May 25th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.

This week: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.

The year is 1902, and Sir James Damery visits Holmes and Watson on behalf of his mysterious and illustrious client. The latter never actually directly revealed to the reader, although it might well be the king himself.

Damery’s client is concerned about the relationship between Violet de Merville, daughter of General de Merville, and Baron Adelbert Gruner, from Austria. Gruner is viewed as a rogue and a sadist and – in Damery’s and Holmes’ opinion – a murderer.

Despite the matter of his last wife’s mysterious death and his reputation, Violet de Merville will not be dissuaded from her determination to marry Gruner. So secure is the latter in his position that he is unfazed by a visit from Holmes – indeed, he warns the latter that a French agent who once confronted him with similar accusations finished-up a cripple for life after receiving a beating from thugs shortly afterwards; a veiled threat if ever there was one.

So, lacking obvious proof, how do Holmes and Watson prevent Violet de Merville from marrying Gruner and possibly facing the same future as the Baron’s last wife?

Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

18:00: Magicland Storytime: More Selections from Flora and Ulysses

Join Caledonia Skytower in Magicland Park as she selects more reading from Kate DiCamillo’s second novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award (the first being The Tales of Despereaux in 2004).

Monday May 26th, 19:00: Hunter SL Thompson

Join the inimitable Crap Mariner in what is certain to be a most enjoyable and unusual voyage of words (the clue is in the title, folks!

Tuesday May 27th, 19:00: A Dog’s Purpose

Reincarnation can be confusing for a human; reborn into different lives, trying to learn lessons of the past in order to discover one’s purpose … Imagine what it must be like for a dog.

That’s exactly what humourist W. Bruce Cameron has done in his 2010 best seller A Dog’s Purpose.  Bailey, pup of a stray, is rather surprised to find himself reborn as a Golden Retriever after being euthanized. It surprises him even more when, after a happy life involving a young boy, a farm and more, Bailey passes from the world … only to return, this time in the body of a German shepherd bitch, and the realisation he is serving some higher purpose – but what?

Travel with Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell as they journey through Bailey’s heartwarming and funny tale of many lives, a dog’s-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man’s best friend; a story in which love never dies, and true friends are always with us.

Wednesday May 28th, 19:00:  Aoife in Ireland

With Aoife Niphredil.

Thursday May 29th

16:00 Freda in Progress

With Freda Frostbite.

19:00: Scylla and Charybdis, Part 2

From the pages of Greek mythology come Scylla and Charybdis, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow waters (though to be the Straits of Messina) traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings as described by Homer in his epic Odyssey. Scylla, a supernatural creature, with 12 feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of shark-like teeth, was once human in appearance, according to Ovid. Her transformation, he claimed within his Metamorphoses, was the result of jealousy and witchcraft on the part of Circe.

Credit: Bookpalace.com
Credit: Bookpalace.com

Charybdis, on the opposite shore of the narrows, was said to lurk under a fig tree and drank down and belched forth the waters of the straits three times a day. The shipwrecked Odysseus barely escaped her clutches by clinging to a tree until the improvised raft that she swallowed floated to the surface again after many hours.

Join Shandon Loring as he takes us, as the saying goes, “between Scylla and Charydbis”.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links